2025 Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) Nominations: ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Challengers’ Lead

Composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Director Ridley Scott to Receive the SCL’s Spirit of Collaboration Award, and Composer Jeff Beal to Be Presented with the SCL Jury Award

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) have announced the nominations for the 2025 Annual SCL Awards, which celebrate excellence and innovation in music for visual media where Emilia Pérez and Challengers lead the film nominees, while Masters of the Air, Shōgun and The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power lead television.

The 6th annual awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on February 12, 2025 and hosted by singer-songwriter Colin Hay (Men at Work, Ringo Starr).

Clément Ducol and Camille, composers and songwriters of Netflix’s Emilia Pérez, received three nominations, including one for Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film, and two nominations in the same category of Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production for “Mi Camino” and “El Mal,” the latter of which they co-wrote with the film’s writer/director Jacques Audiard.

Atticus Ross also received a total of 3 nods, including for Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production for “Compress/Repress” from the Amazon MGM Studios film Challengers, which he composed with Trent Reznor and Luca Guadagnino.

Diane Warren is nominated for Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production for her song “The Journey” (from Netflix’s The Six Triple Eight). Warren has been nominated every year, and in 2023, she won the SCL Award in this same category for her song “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman. Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin, and Andrew Watt also received a nomination for “Never Too Late” from the Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.

Composers Atticus Ross, his brother Leopold Ross, and Nick Chuba together received two nominations for the original title sequence and original score for the acclaimed FX limited series Shōgun. Bear McCreary received two nominations for composing both the original score for The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and the original song “Old Tom Bombadil” from the Amazon Prime series. Blake Neely, composer of the Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air, and Jeff Toyne, composer of Apple TV+ series Palm Royale, both received two nominations for their original title sequence and original score.

SPIRIT OF COLLABORATION AWARD: The SCL Awards today also announced composer Harry Gregson-Williams and director Ridley Scott with the prestigious Spirit of Collaboration Award, which recognizes a composer/director relationship that has created a prodigious body of work. This year’s film, Gladiator II marks their seventh collaboration. In his previous collaborations with Scott, Gregson-Williams has written the original scores for The Martian, Kingdom of Heaven, The Last Duel, and House of Gucci, as well as themes for Prometheus and Exodus: God and Kings. The Spirit of Collaboration award presentation will also feature musical performances highlighting their collaboration.

“Ridley is an open book when it comes to music, and working with him on his films has been a great privilege,” Gregson-Williams says. “He doesn’t point me to a path and expect me to follow it. He allows me the freedom to experiment. He understands the power of music in a movie like few others do, but never speaks to me in musical terms. He’ll talk to me about light and darkness, shade and texture. He might say, could there be a more abrasive texture in this scene? And I’ll interpret that in a musical way.” Scott says that for him, music is language. “When you score a film, you’re writing a new language that gives the film an added dynamic,” the director explains. “It’s like the final dialogue. Music can make a movie or ruin it, the way an editor can make a mediocre film better or a possibly great film bad.”

Last year, Martin Scorsese accepted the 2024 Spirit of Collaboration Award for his work with the late composer Robbie Robertson. Past award recipients include Thomas Newman & Sam Mendes, Terence Blanchard & Spike Lee, Carter Burwell & the Coen Brothers, and Justin Hurwitz & Damien Chazelle.

SCL JURY AWARD: Five-time Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal will also be awarded the SCL Jury Award for his score for the Weimar Cinema masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is considered one of the most influential silent films in history.

SCL Awards Nominees and winners are judged and determined solely by member composers and songwriters. The final voting will open on January 27, 2025 and close on February 3, 2025.

Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film

1. Clement Ducol, Camille – ‘EMILIA PEREZ’ (Netflix)
2. Hans Zimmer – ‘DUNE: PART TWO’ (Warner Bros. Pictures / Legendary Pictures)
3. Harry Gregson-Williams – ‘GLADIATOR II’ (Paramount Pictures)
4. John Powell, Stephen Schwartz – ‘WICKED: PART 1’ (Universal Pictures)
5. Kris Bowers – ‘THE WILD ROBOT’ (DreamWorks Animation)
6. Volker Bertelmann – ‘CONCLAVE’ (Focus Features)

Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film

1. Chris Bacon – ‘HERETIC’ (A24)
2. Daniel Blumberg – ‘THE BRUTALIST’ (A24)
3. Dara Taylor – ‘MEET ME NEXT CHRISTMAS’ (Roberts Media)
4. Fabrizio Mancinelli – ‘HERE AFTER’ (Artina Films, ClaRo Productions, Fenix Entertainment, Hopscotch Pictures)
5. Heather McIntosh – ‘WINNER’ (Big Beach, One Community, Scythia Films, ShivHans Pictures)
6. Stephanie Economou – ‘THE BOOK OF JOBS’ (Bull’s Eye Entertainment, Rebellium Films)

Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production

1. Andrew Wyatt, Lykke Li, Miley Cyrus – “Beautiful That Way” (from ‘THE LAST SHOWGIRL’) (Utopia Media, High Frequency Entertainment, Pinky Promise, Detour, Digital Ignition Entertainment)
2. Bear McCreary – “Old Tom Bombadil” (from ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER’) (Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema / Prime Video)
3. Christopher Lennertz – “Let’s Put The Christ Back In Christmas” (from ‘THE BOYS’) (Prime Video)
4. Diane Warren – “The Journey” (from ‘THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT’) (Netflix)
5. Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin, Andrew Watt – “Never Too Late” (from ‘ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE’) (Disney Branded Television, This Machine Filmworks, Rocket Entertainment)
6. Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, Taura Stinson – “Winter Coat” (from ‘BLITZ’) (Apple Original Films)

Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production

1. Abigail Barlow, Emily Bear – “Beyond” (from ‘MOANA 2’) (Disney)
2. Clement Ducol, Camille – “Mi Camino” (from ‘EMILIA PEREZ’) (Why Not Productions, Page 114, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma, Saint Laurent Productions)
3. Clement Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard – “El Mal” (from ‘EMILIA PEREZ’) (Why Not Productions, Page 114, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma, Saint Laurent Productions)
4. Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, Shane McAnally – “Out of Oklahoma” (from ‘TWISTERS’) (Universal Pictures)
5. Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler, Sacha Skarbek – “Forbidden Road” (from ‘BETTER MAN’) (Paramount Pictures)
6. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Luca Guadagnino – “Compress/Repress” (from ‘CHALLENGERS’) (Amazon MGM Studios)

Outstanding Original Title Sequence for a Television Production

1. Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Nick Chuba – ‘SHŌGUN’ (FX Network)
2. Blake Neely – ‘MASTERS OF THE AIR’ (Apple TV+)
3. Carlos Rafael Rivera – ‘GRISELDA’ (Netflix)
4. Danielle Ponder – ‘MANHUNT’ (Apple TV+)
5. Jeff Toyne – ‘PALM ROYALE’ (Apple TV+)
6. Nami Melumad – ‘DREAM PRODUCTIONS’ (Pixar Animation Studios / Disney+)

Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production

1. Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Nick Chuba – ‘SHŌGUN’ (FX Network)
2. Bear McCreary – ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER’ (Amazon MGM Studios in association with New Line Cinema / Prime Video)
3. Blake Neely – ‘MASTERS OF THE AIR’ (Apple TV+)
4. David Fleming – ‘MR AND MRS SMITH’ (Amazon MGM Studios)
5. Finneas O’Connell – ‘DISCLAIMER’ (Apple TV+)
6. Jeff Toyne – ‘PALM ROYALE’ (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media

1. Gordy Haab – ‘INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE’ (Machine Games, Bethesda Studios, Lucasfilm Games)
2. Nainita Desai – ‘TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU’ (Surgent Studios, EA)
3. Wilbert Roget, II – ‘STAR WARS: OUTLAWS’ (Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft)
4. Winifred Phillips – ‘WIZARDRY: PROVING GROUNDS OF THE MAD OVERLORD’ (Digital Eclipse)

David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent

1. Andrea Datzman – ‘INSIDE OUT 2’ (Disney/Pixar Animation Studios)
2. Emily Rice – ‘BROKEN BIRD’ (Catalyst Studios, Mitchell-Brunt Films)
3. Katya Richardson – ‘MOTORCYCLE MARY’ (Breakwater Studios)
4. Nikhil Koparkar – ‘DEAD WHISPER’ (Howlin’ Hounds Pictures, Brothers Gran Productions)
5. Robin Carolan – ‘NOSFERATU’ (Focus Features)
6. Wei-San Hsu – ‘INVISIBLE NATION’ (100 Chapters Productions, Double Hope Films, Seine Pictures)